AW: How to generate a runnable Mac standalone from Windows

[Richard Gaskin]

Tiemo Hollmann wrote:

 >> > Richard Gaskin wrote:
 >> With a DMG the user has to figure out why they have a new volume on
 >> their Mac desktop (you'd be surprised by how many users find DMGs
 >> confusing (see the links at the bottom of
 >> <http://revjournal.com/blog.irv?pid=1261255254.58153>).
 >
 > Hi Richard,
 > beeing for a long time only a windows user and developer I totally
 > agree to your arcticle that DMGs can be very confusing. Since I had
 > no experience with Mac, when I started to develop my latest product
 > also for Mac, I asked here on this list how to make an installer for
 > Mac, and everybody taught me, that I don't need an installer, Mac
 > users are used to use DMGs and thats so easy. So I followed the
 > advice and thought, hmm, ok probably it's my old fashioned and not
 > state of the art windows thinking, that I (and some of my customers
 > too) still feel confused and not intuitively guided to my App. But
 > just the intuitive operating should be the strength of the Mac,
 > shouldn't it be?

DMGs are great for many things, but I think for installs they've become 
as overused as XML is for so many tasks it isn't the best choice for.

A lot of these things are driven by fashion, the "cool factor" that 
people see and say, "Hey, I want to do that too!".  Apple's been telling 
us to "Think Different" for so long that we no longer notice that the 
phrase itself is grammatically incorrect. ;)

While I haven't yet come across any formal usability studies on using 
disk images as installers (if anyone here finds one please pass it 
along), my own anecdotal evidence suggests that they're a good fit 
mainly for more experienced Mac users, but for the reasons noted in the 
links at that blog entry tend to confuse many others.


 > I would like to have an easy installer on Mac, like InnoSetup on Win.
 > My 2 Win cents

With 80+% of the market, 2 Win cents = a Mac dollar. :)

Have you tried Monte Goulding's install tool?:
http://www.sweattechnologies.com/InstallGadget/

--
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World
  Rev training and consulting: http://www.fourthworld.com
  Webzine for Rev developers: http://www.revjournal.com
  revJournal blog: http://revjournal.com/blog.irv